 |
 |
I think we best start looking at the procedures a little more than naively listing them on a cause effect basis. As the name suggests stereotactic radiation surgery, SRS, is an operation designed to destroy tissue thought to be the cause of the symptoms of PD. Hence the radiation doses are extremely high. I.e. Radiotherapy doses at a level to destroy tissue, this I can't emphasize enough. Its only, dare I say, benefit is that the brain is not directly assaulted by the surgeon's knife. Therefore this is considered a non invasive technique which on face value might appear to someone unable to survive a brain operation as in dbs. The after effects are similar to radiotherapy techniques applied to tumor treatment and as such would not normally be promoted as an effective treatment for Pd. The success rate should always be considered above all else when adopting an evaluation of the procedures available. John Thomas B Aps medical radiation -----Original Message----- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange Network [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Nic Marais Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 11:29 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) Hmmm... DBS might be invasive, but at least it can be reversed and does not fry a part of your brain...! Nic 57/15 On Tue, Nov 3, 2009 at 8:35 AM, mschild <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) offers a less invasive way to eliminate > tremors > caused by Parkinson's disease and essential tremor than deep brain > stimulation > (DBS) and radiofrequency (RF) treatments, and is as effective, according to > a > long-term study presented November 2, 2009, at the 51st Annual Meeting of > the > American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). > "The study shows that radiosurgery is an effective and safe method of > getting > rid of tremors caused by Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, with > outcomes that favorably compare to both DBS and RF in tremor relief and > risk > of complications at seven years after treatment," Rufus Mark, M.D., an > author > of the study and a radiation oncologist at the Joe Arrington Cancer Center > and > Texas Tech University, both in Lubbock, Texas said. "In view of these long- > term results, this non-invasive procedure should be considered a primary > treatment option for tremors that are hard to treat." > Parkinson's disease is a slowly progressive neurologic disease that causes > tremors, in addition to other symptoms. Essential tremor is the most common > of > all movement disorders and causes uncontrollable shaking of the hands, > head, > and sometimes other parts of the body. > Stereotactic radiation is a specialized type of external beam radiation > therapy that pinpoints high doses of radiation directly on a confined area > in a > shorter amount of time than traditional radiation treatments. Stereotactic > radiosurgery, or SRS, refers to a single or several stereotactic radiation > treatments of the brain or spine. SRS is delivered by a team involving a > radiation oncologist and a neurosurgeon. This radiation treatment is often > called by the brand > names of the manufacturers, including Axesse, CyberKnife, Gamma Knife, > Novalis, Primatom, Synergy, X-Knife, TomoTherapy and Trilogy. > Between 1991 and 2007, 183 patients underwent stereotactic radiosurgery > thalamotomy, for hard-to-treat tremors caused by Parkinson's disease and > essential tremors. A thalamotomy is a procedure that destroys tissue at a > particular spot-the Ventralis Inter-Medius nucleus-on the thalamus of the > brain which influences movement. > With a median follow-up of seven years, 84 percent of patients had > significant > or complete resolution of tremors. In patients with Parkinson's disease, 83 > percent had near or complete tremor resolution, while those with essential > tremor had 87 percent of this degree of tremor resolution. > Source: American Society for Radiation Oncology > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto: > [log in to unmask] > In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn